Fallon track enters home stretch after McQueen meet

Past the halfway point of the season, and the 3A is shaping out like it’s going to be a fun race in the postseason next month.

Lowry led both the boys and girls 3A teams in Saturday’s Northwest Invite at McQueen on Saturday with Fallon not too far behind. Damonte Ranch won the boys division with 148.25 points and McQueen took home the girls trophy with 98.5. Lowry led the 3A’s five teams with 38 points in the boys and 46.5 in the girls. Fallon finished with 25.25 in the boys and 27 in the girls divisions.

“Great day overall. I was very pleased with our strong finish,” Fallon boys coach Steve Heck said.

Colton Peterson had a strong day in the sprints, capturing fifth in the 200 meters in 23.24 seconds, a season best, and eighth in the 100 in 11.74. Drake Copley and Broder Thurston finished 13th and 14th in the 200 in 24.01 and 24.03, and Thurston was 15th in the 100 in 11.92.

“It was good to see Colton Peterson getting back in form as he recovers from a leg injury,” Heck said.

Reid Cyburn placed in both hurdle events, taking eighth in both the 110 (17.91) and 300 (44.10) while Trevor East and Trevor Brown were less than 2 seconds of each other. East finished 16th in the 110 in 18.66 followed by Brown in 19th in 19.04. East was ninth in the 300 in 44.15 and Brown was 16th in 45.97.

The 4x100 relay of Jacob Weber, Clayton Steelmon, Peterson and Copley finished fifth in 45.65 and the same team finished sixth in the 4x200 in 1:36.18.

“Our relays continue to develop and are really competing well,” Heck said. “We will be solidifying our teams over the next few weeks as we get ready for the region meet.”

Tristen Mathisen finished 36th in the 400 in 58.34, a personal best, Joseph Terry was 29th in the 1500 in 4:46.76, a personal best, and Justin Cathey was 47th in the 800 in 2:26.89. Garrett Tognazzini finished 37th in the 3000 in 11:23.06. Cathey was also eighth in the high jump at 5 feet, 5 inches.

“Justin also had a nice day in the high jump,” Heck said.

T.J. Mauga led Fallon in the field events with a fourth-place finish in the discus at 148-11 and sixth in the shot put at 44-4.75. East finished sixth in the triple jump at 40-4.25, a personal best, followed by Kirkland’s 36-10.5, a 15th-place finish. Bryan Duenas finished 15th in the long jump at 18-2.

“Trevor was getting personal records again and had a huge jump in the triple jump eclipsing the 40-foot mark for the first time in his career,” Heck said.

Whitney Skabelund, LeAnn Stands, Allie Lister and Misake Claire each placed for the girls as Fallon went through extensive conditioning last week.

“We were a tired team. We worked hard this past week,” Fallon girls coach Paul Orong said. “We’re just trying to get ready but we’re going to start scaling back pretty soon for regionals.”

Skabelund placed in four events, taking third in the triple jump at 34-9, fourth in the long at 16-01.5, fifth in the 100 hurdles in 17.17 and sixth in the 300 hurdles in 49.32, a season best. Claire finished sixth in the discus at 111 feet, a personal best, while Stands was seventh in the shot put at 32-2.75, a season best. Lister pole vaulted to 8 feet to take eighth.

Cassidy East and Sierra Hickox jumped season bests with East leaping 14-11.5 in the long and 29-2.5 in the triple jumps, while Hickox jumped 32-3.5 for 12th in the triple. Claire finished 12th in the shot put at 29-8.5.

Fallon had a rough stretch on the track outside the hurdle and relay events.

Shelby Hickox finished 16th in the 100 hurdles with a personal-best 18.62 and 23rd in the 300 hurdles in 54.75, a season best. Corin Ramos, Elizabeth Ebner and Aspen Anderozzi each had a season best in the hurdle events.

Savannah Robinson, Jordyn Dahl, Chandler McAlexander and Hickox finished sixth in the 4x800 relay in 11:10.62.

“We actually unveiled our 4x800 team this week,” Orong said. “We had a mix of veterans and young kids and they did really well. They’re ranked fourth in the north after one time. Three of them have never run an 800 before.”

Chandler McAlexander was the highest placer in the running events, taking 19th in the 400 in 1:08.62, a personal best. Amanda Pursley finished 24th in the 3000 (14:25.71) and 45th in the 1500 (6:50.19), both season records, while Savannah Robinson was 26th in the 800 in 2:47.56, a personal best. Macie Gilmore led Fallon in the 100 in 17.40 and Kyndal Collins was 33rd in the 200 in 30.64.

Fallon hosts the elementary school track meet today at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex and then travels to Loomis, Calif., for the Del Oro Invitational on Friday.

“The elementary meet has over 50 kids signed up and we expect to get even more on meet day,” Heck said. “It is shaping up to be a great day of competition.”